Using NAO instead of video-conferencing or similar services is much better for successful business negotiations. NAO makes negotiation participants more open to cooperation and trustworthy each other by shaking hands. An avatar in computing is the visual representation of the user. It is the user’s physical representation in robotics. A robot that is your representation. Researchers at the University of Bath’s Department of Psychology believe this after numerous experiments that used the robot to act as an avatar. This was possible despite the fact that the robot could have been thousands of miles away. This study may revolutionize the way robots can be used for business negotiations. Image by Nic Delves-Broughton at the University of Bath. NAO works better than Skype. Using an avatar of a humanoid robot allows participants to feel physically present even though they may not be there. Researchers found that this feeling of being together with another negotiator is superior to a Skype-like virtual-conference service. These interactions can include handshakes through the avatar. This could eventually allow robots to conduct business meetings or enable people with mobility issues to communicate with the outside world in a unique and effective way. NAO is a 23-inch (58cm) tall humanoid, programmable robot developed by Aldebaran Robotics, a Paris-based company specialised in making and marketing humanoid and programmable robots. NAO was released to the general public in 2008. This robot is very popular among academic institutions. It’s used for research. Currently, over 5,000 NAO units are being used in more than fifty nations. In pretend property negotiations, Dr. Chris Bevan and Professor Danae Stanton Fraser conducted mock property deals using NAO units. In the laboratory with the NAO humanoid robot, Dr Chris Bevan is joined by Professor Danae Stanton Fraser. Image: University of Bath. One participant, who was either a buyer or seller, entered the room to present NAO while another participant watched the meeting via his robot. The avatar of the remote person was NAO. It had an embedded microphone and headcam. NAO vibrates when it shakes hands with the remote person. The robot’s sensors detect touch and respond accordingly. Research team discovered that a simple handshake is just as important when people interact with their avatars virtually as it was when they meet face to face. The research team also discovered that interactions through an avatar were just as important when the recipient is on the other side. It is vital to foster cooperation and trust. Dr. Bevan is a Research Associate at the Department of Psychology and currently works with the EPSRC funded project ‘Being There. Humans and Robots In Public Spaces.’ (2013-2016),. He said that handshaking is crucial for fostering trust and cooperation. The mock negotiations involved a total of 120 volunteers. They were randomly selected to be either the buyer or seller, in a property deal scenario involving between PS24 million and PS42 million ($38m and $66m). A NAO avatar was used by one of the negotiators to communicate with another. Even though they were in different rooms, the person not present physically shook hands with the robot through NAO. The robot felt physically close and connected to the person who was present when the participants in the room touched hands. Through vibrations in the avatar’s hand, the user experienced the exact same feeling. Professor Stanton Fraser is a specialist in Human Computer Interaction. He heads the university’s CREATE Lab. This research examines the design and evaluation mobile and ubiquitous technology. There were several types of mock negotiations, including with or without handshakes and those that involved vibrations. Reference: Danae Stanton Fraser. “Shaking Hands and Cooperation in Tele-present Human-Robot Negotiation.” HRI ’15 Proceedings of the Tenth Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction. Pages 247-254. ISBN: 978-1-4503-2883-8. DOI: 10.1145/2696454.2696490. Video – NAO can be used for many purposes
NAO, my robot avatar, shakes hands to improve business negotiations
